Forums » Linux

Windows Is Teh Suck!

Jul 30, 2005 KixKizzle link
So my friend gave me a 7 gig drive and linux 9.1 to install on my computer. I had to sacrifice my dvd drive cause my motherboard is all Sata! YARRRRRRR

I have been weened on windows for all of my natural existence and just "barely" got my WiFi to connect and updated everything. The thing is, when I open up my graphics card and monitor settings, go into the graphics card, it just shows a generic card VESA Framebuffer Graphics. I go into properties to set the video card, but it doesn't have Nvidia 6600. It only goes up to 5950 Ultra. So I'm guessing there's something here that I need to update but I just updated everything! Also I only installed the first 2 cd's of linux cause I didn't want anything else.....

-_-

I know, that's probably my problem. So if anyone cares to help ween me off of crapy windows, please reply!

Thank you
Jul 30, 2005 Beolach link
Which distribution of Linux are you using? They all have slightly different ways of doing some things.

Briefly, for the nVidia driver, there's actually two drivers available, an open-source driver developed by the open-source community "nv", and nVidia's official closed-source driver "nvidia". If you're planning on playing VO or any other 3D graphics under Linux, you'll want to use the "nvidia" driver, not the "nv" driver, because the "nv" driver does not support hardware acceleration as well. The "nvidia" driver from version 1.0-6629 (released on November 5, 2004) and up has support for GeForce 6600. Anyway, the "nvidia" driver is a unified driver, meaning that one driver supports nVidia's entire range of video cards, so on that list you were looking at, all of those nVidia cards it had listed were all just aliases for the "nvidia" driver (probably; they may have been aliases for the "nv" driver, but I think that's less likely). That means that even though the GeForce 6600 wasn't on the list, if you have version 1.0-6629 or newer of the "nvidia" driver, selecting any of the GeForce cards should probably support your 6600. How to check which version you have & upgrade it if necessary is going to depend on which distribution you are using.

Welcome to freedom, Kix.

[edit]
Actually, here's an easy way to check which version of the nvidia driver you have, that will work with all distributions. At a command prompt, run "cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version" (without quotes) and it should show you what version you have installed. If it says that file doesn't exist, it means the nvidia driver is not currently loaded into the kernel. Here's what "cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version" gives me:
NVRM version: NVIDIA Linux x86_64 NVIDIA Kernel Module 1.0-7667 Fri Jun 17 07:14:03 PDT 2005
GCC version: gcc version 3.4.4 (Gentoo 3.4.4, ssp-3.4.4-1.0, pie-8.7.8)
[/edit]
Jul 30, 2005 KixKizzle link
When I use that command Beolach, nothing happens.
Gonna try to mess around with the Nvidia drivers more.
Gotta cut the grass first though.

BRB!

[edit]
I've got Suse 9.1 (i386)
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: nvidia is not active
Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe nvidia"
I found that in Device Manager/Display

Also, I tried picking random Nvidia graphics cards, but none worked.
[/edit]
Jul 30, 2005 a1k0n link
Jul 31, 2005 runlevel0 link
Oh, good lord. Las thing I thought to do in VO was acting as Linux help forum member. No Problemo, CLM Guild Council Larry LeBeuf takes off his pirate hat and takes back his real identity as Linux help forum geek Enric 'runlevel0' Martinez to show you one of his famous Quick and Dirty ways of getting things done.

What you need to get rid of any problem with nVidia cards now or in the future, is using the offcial drivers form the nVidia download page. [url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-7667.html]LATEST[/url]

But in order to be able to use them you need the sources of the running kernel, the development tools.

Any distro will downlad and install all necesary software for you if you use the distro's software management system:

Apt-get on Debians/Ubuntus and even FEdoras
Yum or Red Carpet in Fedora
URMPI in Mandriva
YAST2 in SUSE
emerge in Gentoo
and I-Dunno in slackware (sorry, it's the only distro I never used)

The packages you need are GCC and Kernel-sources. The system will manage the dependencies and stuff.

The kernel source need to be *exactly the same* you are running.
This is normally not a problem as distros use their kernels during long periods of time (unlike Gentoo).
A way of knowing which version of the kernel you are running is:
[code]
uname -a
[/code]

Once you have the developement system installed you will need to follow those steps to install the nvidia drivers:

1- go out of X into a console: CTRL+ALT+F1 (or F2-F6)
2- shut down the X server. This depends on your distro:
SUSE, Mandriva and Fedora: init 3
Debian and Gentoo: /etc/ini.d/xdm stop
3- install the drivers: sh NVIDIA-xxx.yyy.zzz.run
4- restart the X:
SUSE, Mandriva and Fedora: init 5
Debian and Gentoo: /etc/ini.d/xdm start

Follow the instructions and post any errors you get.
I everything runt fine, as you already have your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file set up by the distro you should see the nVidia logo when the screen switches to the X.
If you get error first thing to look at is if /etc/X11/xorg.conf
is propperly set up, speciall look for the entry

Driver "nvidia"

and don't hesitate to contact me at runlevel@gmail.com or my jabber account: runlevel0@jabberes.org

good luck guild member ;)
Jul 31, 2005 runlevel0 link
THIS PAEG IS TEH R0X0RZ!!!
ROTFLMAO
Aug 01, 2005 Beolach link
Re: KixKizzle
Nothing happens at all? It should either print your nvidia driver version info if it's installed, or tell you "No such file or directory" if it's not installed.

Re: runlevel0
Slackware was the first distribution I used. It uses plain tarballs for its package system, and doesn't have dependancy tracking, so you have to manually install any missing dependancies yourself.
Aug 01, 2005 Beamrider link
Actually with Suse there is a easier way....

Start Yast, select software from the left menu and online update from the right. After connecting to the update server the Nvidia drivers will be listed...install is painless and quick.
Aug 01, 2005 Konekobasu link
There's just one potential problem with using Yast Online Update to install the NVidia drivers: SuSE/Novell usually do not update those packages. So basically right now you get the latest driver that was available at SuSE 9.3 release-time.
Owners of a brand new 7800 GTX will probably need the official NVidia installer after all.
Aug 01, 2005 Beamrider link
I was just going based on what he said he had... I've got the 6600 also and Yast did just fine. If this is his first venture into Linux, keeping it simple is the best bet...
Aug 01, 2005 KixKizzle link
I installed the official drivers using YaST.
It downloaded, then installed.
It did not update the graphics card list.
I'm 100% sure I installed it, seeing how I did this about 5 times......
I have 9.1 not 9.3
I've updated Linux about 7 times.
I've (re)installed things from the cd's that didn't matter.

I've reverted back to Windows.

Beolach, it did absolutely nothing. I copied exactly what you gave me and put it in run.

Runlevel0, thanks for typing all of that, but remember I'm a noob to Linux. I've been weened on windows for all of my natural computer learning years. :(

Blah!
Aug 01, 2005 Beolach link
Oh, was it a run dialog box, or inside a terminal? I guess I should have specified, it needs to be in a terminal so you can see its output. So in that run dialog box, type xterm[1] to get a terminal, and then in the terminal run "cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version".

[Footnote 1]: Or kterm, aterm, rxvt, gnome-terminal, many options. xterm is probably the ugliest, but it's the one that is most definitely on your system.
Aug 05, 2005 runlevel0 link
Beolach dixit:
> xterm is probably the ugliest, but it's the one that is most definitely on your system...

Don't bet for it, I know many distros which don't install xterm.
Mandriva is one of them.

Anyway xterm = teh r0x0rz
Aug 08, 2005 KixKizzle link
Oh man, I give up with this thing.
I'm just gonna reinstall Linux and start over....
Maybe that'll work.
Aug 12, 2005 Sputnik66 link
hey kix ;P

first off i have very limited knowledge on SuSE. i installed it once on a small hard-drive just to see what the raving was about, as it was hailed by actual desktop users, and not CLI magick ;D

there is a guide for SuSE installation of the nvidia drivers here: ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-HOWTO#1

to install the drivers manually you'll need the source of your current running kernel installed.

to find the version of your current running kernel, you'd issue:

uname -r

example:
sputnik@SPUTNIK1:~: uname -r
2.6.8-i686-k7-s1
sputnik@SPUTNIK1:~:

once you have your sources installed, you'll need to go to http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-7667.html and download the installer. you'll then need to switch to another terminal (CTRL+ALT+F1). after you're in another terminal you'll need to login as root, and kill gdm (if you're running gnome) or kdm (if you're running KDE). to do this is very simple. issue:

killall -KILL gdm
killall -KILL kdm

next you'd run the installer by issueing this in the directory of where you downloaded the installer:

./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7667-pkg1.run

all of it is pretty much self explanitory from there. if you have any problems, go here for some excelent documentation: ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-7667/README.txt

after the installation of the drivers are complete, you MAY need to edit your xorg.conf or XF86Config-4 in /etc/X11/ to use the driver "nvidia" instead of "nv".

example:

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT"
Driver "nv"

to:

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT"
Driver "nvidia"

you will also need to comment out GLcore if it's present in your config:

search for:

Section "Module"
Load "GLcore"

and change it to this:

Section "Module"
# Load "GLcore"

if you are confused on which file to edit (if there are two, which should not happen unless you forgot to clean up after an upgrade) you can find which version of X by issueing the command:

X -version

example:
sputnik@SPUTNIK1:~: X -version

X Window System Version 6.8.2 (Debian 6.8.2.dfsg.1-4 20050720150243 david@squee.verizon.net)
Release Date: 9 February 2005

X.org is 6.8.x = xorg.conf
XF86 is 4.x.x = XF86Config-4.conf

there are alot of options you'll want to add in your X config, but i honestly don't know them as i run ATi =x. NVIDIA SLI is currently not supported =\ (at the time of this writing). changing the driver from "nv" to "nvidia" should give 3d acceleration at the very least.

you'll then want to type gdm, or kdm to start X and your login manager.

you can test to see if you're running in 3d accel mode or not by issueing this command:

glxinfo | grep direct

example:

sputnik@SPUTNIK1:~: glxinfo | grep direct
direct rendering: Yes
sputnik@SPUTNIK1:~:

if you want to truly learn gnu/linux, i would suggest another distribution other than suse, and redhat based systems.

distributions i'd suggest:

1. Linux From Scratch (not really a distribution, but taught me many things back then) www.linuxfromscratch.org
2. Gentoo www.gentoo.org
3. Slackware www.slackware.org
4. Debian www.debian.org
Aug 13, 2005 Beolach link
If you're interested in really learning & getting a deep understanding of Linux, LFS (Linux From Scratch) is probably the best distribution to use. It is more complicated & time consuming to setup, but once you're finished you knew exactly how your system was built - because you built all of it.

I currently use Gentoo. I find it to be a nice mix of ease-of-use to maintain (something LFS is rather lacking in), while still giving me a lot of control over what I want.
Aug 18, 2005 who? me? link
*poke* Ubuntu *poke*
Oct 26, 2005 Demonen link
Since this thread is turning into a distro war:

DEBIAN!
Ofcourse, you'd have to add contrib and nonfree to your sources first, but then it's a matter of...

apt-get install nvidia-kernel-`uname -r` nvidia-glx nvidia-kernel-common

TADAAAA!!
Oct 30, 2005 grayswander link
Regarding "distro war":

I have installed Ubuntu for my friend as his first distro last week.
Hm... Linux for human beings, they say. Either I am not a human being, or they are slightly wrong. Just one small example:

He has Creative Audigy LS, a.k.a. Live 24.
Stupid creative never published full documentation for devs, so until ALSA version 1.0.9 ca0106 driver for this card did not support mic input. ALSA 1.0.9 has been released at 23/06/05.
Ubuntu's repository had 1.0.8 as LATEST version, which has been released at JANUAR!

This, of course, is not the only issue.

Now he installs Gentoo...
Nov 08, 2005 smittens link
I hate windows!